When visiting Google yesterday for the unveiling of Gmail Labs, product manager Keith Coleman took us on a tour of the Googleplex’s Building 47.
Along the way, we saw Googlers hard at work on Gmail, Reader, Calendar, and other related projects. But the coolest part was a stop in a conference room where Coleman had laid out printed screenshots depicting the evolution of Gmail’s user interface before it was ever released to the public on April 1, 2004.
While the screenshots were not identified by particular dates, they were laid out from left to right in rough order of where they stood in Gmail’s evolution. In the very first screenshot, dating back to March 2002, we see Gmail when it was a simple Paul Buchheit hack to search his messages by keyword.
The web app then goes through a series of transformations, logos and names. Funky logos for the product include fish and the Pinky and the Brain cartoon rats. Alpha and internal names for the product that would eventually become Gmail included “Google email” and a couple non-Googley ones we’re not supposed to mention. At some point, Google started calling the project by the code name Caribou.
The idea of consolidating messages into conversations was implemented towards the beginning, since the developers found that most of their own communications lend themselves well to this format.
For awhile, Google Groups was being developed alongside Gmail, and at a certain point, Gmail head off into a new design direction while Groups preserved Gmail’s design at the time. The common ancestry can still be seen in Groups today, which sports the same left-hand navigation once shared with Gmail (where Groups shows group names, Gmail used to show message subjects).
Below are the screenshots in their full embryonic glory – albeit with names, message bodies, and other sensitive information blurred out.
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I’m si glad to see the evolution of Gmail. By the way, many interesting events from inside the Google corporation you can see at http:\\keybrand.ru
I’m so glad to see the evolution of Gmail. By the way, many interesting events from inside the Google corporation you can see at http://www.keybrand.ru
It’s interesting to me that in one of the early screenshots they were toying with the idea of giving everyone an @google.com email address…
LOL, I remember those days. I also remember having 100 GmAil accounts to givwe out before it opened to everyone. Boy those were the days!
JB
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
@SLaguana how do you have so much space? i wonder if gmail scales the space based on how much you’re taking up. i joined in early 2005 and still have 6gb.
Still the best free email that lets you use outlook
And if you have Better Gmail 2 plugin for Firefox, it’s even more evolved!
there are people who ended up disk space in gmail?
nice PrtSC.
Interesting all that talk of screenshots. And G-Mail STILL can’t embed pictures.
Any plan to add video chat?
Awful post!
Gmail is the best free email out there. Google docs, the chat, adding your AIM into your chat…who cares if it’s not idiot proof…if you have two seconds of patience it’s not tough to figure out.
gmail is one of the best things ever happened on the internet since ever, if some still stay with hotmail or Yahoo is just because they don’t want to change email address, if they were allowed to forward emails to gmail account for free MS and Y would be left quickly
Gmail Rules
Google = Powerful + Boring
Yahoo = Powerful + Exciting
MSN = Power – Exciting + Boring
Google is more on average users while Yahoo is more on advance users. IMHO.
Я тоже врямя от времени такое вижу, но как-то раньше не придавал этому значения.
shame even with all that work it is still hard to use and its funtions are quirky contraption-like (design by committe anyone…)